Living to Win Over Uncertainty
Tom Shrader concludes his 'Living to Win' series by examining how to overcome uncertainty in seven key areas of life: finances, relationships, world events, children, health, old age, and death. Drawing from Hebrews 12:1 and other passages, he emphasizes that while we cannot control all circumstances, we can find security in God's promises and presence. Shrader addresses common fears with biblical responses, encouraging believers to seek first God's kingdom and trust in His grace and provision through life's inevitable uncertainties.
“Christmas is not about giving; Christmas is about receiving, receiving that Christ came and lived and died, and you receive Him, you acknowledge Him as your Lord and Savior.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Living to Win (2014)
Recorded: 2014
Duration: 39 min
Themes: uncertainty, fear, anxiety, trust, provision, finances, relationships, death, facing financial stress, worried about children, aging parent, dealing with illness, economic uncertainty, relationship struggles, fear of death, new believer
Scripture: Hebrews 12:1, Colossians 3:2, Philippians 4:19, Matthew 6:33, Hebrews 13:5, John 15, Isaiah 51:6, 2 Peter 3:10, Psalm 103, Deuteronomy 6, 2 Corinthians 12, Isaiah 46:4, John 3:16
Theological Themes: providence, gods sovereignty, biblical promises, kingdom seeking, divine provision, eternal security, gods faithfulness, scriptural authority
Full Transcript
Today is week eight, the last week of a series titled "Living to Win: Identifying and Unraveling the Entanglements of Life." Obviously the list we've had is not an exhaustive list, but it's a good list. We talked about winning over guilt, weakness, anxiety, fear, worthlessness, and last week was stress. Today's topic is uncertainty.
The series was born out of Hebrews 12:1: "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every encumbrance and sin which entangles us." When you think of entanglements and encumbrance, you think of those things that tie you up, that bind you. This is kind of the bow on that today. This is pretty much a summary of everything we've talked about.
The Scope of Uncertainty
So here we go. It's winning over uncertainty over finances, relationships, the world, your kids, and then I combine five, six, and seven—they're so similar—uncertainty of health, old age, and death.
You have a quote on your outline from the Royal Bank of Canada. It says, "We can never be sure of what the future holds, but would we really want to be? Uncertainty stimulates us as individuals and plays a dynamic role in our society in many ways. We couldn't live without it. Moreover, it would be foolish to try."
On the idea of living with certainty, John Chapman writes this: "A Christian cannot live by philosophy only. The light of Christian revelation—that's the Bible—gives us the end as well as the means of life."
Don't Let Uncertainty Become Your Default
In this whole idea of uncertainty, what we need to make sure we don't do is flinch to uncertainty. It becomes kind of our go-to, and then the discussions are over. It's kind of like the world. Here's my fear: I look at the world and I look at the economic tidal waves that come, the authority, the control figures that I look at things and say, "Well, they're out of control or beyond my control." And that is indeed true.
But there are things you can control. I want to make sure we don't go, "Oh, it's out of control, therefore I won't control the things I can." I use myself as an illustration: I can't control my height, but I can control my width. And I tend not to focus on that.
The Format and Evolution of This Series
Here's what I want us to do is to look at this, and here's the format. In this series, we originally developed in the early 80s, so obviously the topics are timeless. What's interesting, having now taught the series, is to see the illustrations and to see how, though the topic is the same, our emphasis is different.
We started the series by saying let's take a topic. So we took uncertainty of finances. Let's ask some questions, and then let's look at a biblical answer.
Uncertainty of Finances: Then and Now
When we first did this series, here were the questions: Is there a coming crash? And I wrote next to it, "Y2K." Remember that we were all exercised about Y2K. The Christian community was storing food. I had breakfast after breakfast. "Should I have a safe? Do I need to get a safe put up in my house?" Is there a crash coming? And now we've had it because we've seen the market. We've seen the market go like this and it's up and up and up and up. The higher it gets, rather than us go, "Yes, it's at an all-time high," we're going, "It's got to come down." If it goes up, it comes down.
Am I going to lose my job? If there's a failure, how do I handle it? How can I achieve some financial security?
I don't think my life is unique or my generation is unique. But as I look over the years, we graduated from college. We thought after a little time of wandering around, we thought, "Well, we'll get a job, we'll make some money, we'll accumulate some money, and now we got to preserve it."
Most of the guys that I hang with, when they look at an investment—my guys, my friends—they're more concerned about the preservation of capital than the return on the investment. Most of the guys I know, when they look at it, don't you hear that? "Well, I can't afford to lose." Remember when you were young, it's "What am I going to get? What's the return? 12%? A paltry 12%! We can get 17, 20." This time of year, everybody's at parties: "I'm getting 37%." Well, you're a liar. You're not. But the only way I'm going to get 37% is I'm going to have to risk my capital. High return, high risk.
Well, now we go, "I've accumulated. Got to preserve it." What about all that uncertainty?
Biblical Answers to Financial Uncertainty
Let me give you three passages. They're not on your outline. Colossians 3:2: "Set your mind on the things above." Philippians 4:19: "My God will supply all my needs." And then kind of the central theme, especially if you take the time to read the context of it, Matthew 6:33: "Seek first His kingdom."
He's talked about the very natural flinch we have of "What am I going to eat? Where am I going to live? What am I going to wear?" And Jesus's advice is "Seek first His kingdom"—God's kingdom—"and these other things will work themselves out." It's not an excuse to not work. Here's what He's saying: Don't fall in love with money; fall in love with Me.
What Does It Mean to Love God?
We say it right. We say we love God. What does that look like? I'm in love with Sandy. How does that flesh itself out? I think about her all day long. The last thing I did before I got ready to talk was hit my phone to see if I got a text from her, which I didn't. So obviously I'm more in love with her than she is with me.
I got an email the other day and said, "Can you do this and this and this?" And I thought, "Well, I'd like to do that, but I don't want to experience it. I want to experience Sandy."
Well, if I love God, here's what it means: I have this God flinch all day. What does God say? What does God think? Have I talked to Him? Have I heard from Him? Have I talked to Him? That's primarily through prayer and conversation. Have I heard from Him? That's through His word, through His Spirit, through other people.
God's Promise Regarding Financial Uncertainty
Regarding the uncertainty of finances, Hebrews 13:5, the author of Hebrews writes this: "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God says, 'Never will I leave you or forsake you.'"
You the Lord is my helper. I won't be afraid. So why would I have a love of money? Well, the security that comes with it, the enjoyment. And He said listen, keep yourself free, keep yourself content. Why? Because God says you're never going to be alone. I'll never leave you. I'll never abandon you. Seek first my kingdom and these things will be added unto you.
Uncertainty About Relationships
Here's the second thing in your outline: uncertainty about relationships. Will I ever get married? Is my marriage going to last? Am I going to have friends who care about me? Am I going to be alone? The marriage is a big thing.
It was three years ago. Right now this is like my eighth or ninth year of going to Coronado the week before Christmas. There's two benches as you walk down the boardwalk. There's an entrance into the Dell where the grass section is. If you've been over this time of year, you know they ice skate there. Well, there's a bench on each side of the sidewalk, two white benches.
It's my favorite place to sit and they're always busy. Everybody's there. So I'll have to kind of stand and make the person feel a little uncomfortable, you know. And then when they leave, then I sit. Nobody's going to move me. I love to sit there. I love to see the ships go out and I make up my stories, you know. There's 5,000 sailors and they're going out and they're going to be at sea for a year. They're on their way to Hong Kong, but there's a secret mission and they're really going to Buenos Aires.
I'm sitting and I take a lot of pictures because a lot of people stop there and like to have their picture with the Dell behind them. It'll be a couple and he'll take one of her. She'll take one of him. And I'll always go, "Could I take a picture of the two of you?" You know, I'm right there. So I'm sitting there three years ago. Now I'm 60, whatever year it is, one or two years old. I had been married 32, 22 years. And I'm sitting there, and all of a sudden, one day I notice everybody was a couple. And I was overwhelmed by how lonely I was.
So you go, am I ever going to get married? And if I get married, what is it going to be like? That was my thing. I mean, now I'm an older guy. It's one thing to do the marriage thing when you're young and you're excited. Are we going to have kids? Where will they go to school? What are you going to name them? All the stuff that goes with it. It's another thing when you're 61. And the questions are different. You want to be cremated or buried? You got good dental records? I need to see your dental records and your finances. I mean, it's a totally different thing. Was this going to last? Is this going to work? There's all sorts of, am I going to be alone?
I'm by nature... Sienna and I had this conversation the other day. We're by nature very introverted people. That sounds weird in this, but if you see her, she's very outgoing. But it's literally, we were going to a party not long ago, and on the way over, we were making up questions that we would have at our disposal to engage in conversation. Does that ring? Does that resonate? I don't know.
And I'm a really lonely guy. I don't have a lot of friends, and I don't want any. I mean, I don't know how to say it. I have like three or four guys in my life that I just... there's something about them that I connect with them, and I like them, and I enjoy being with them. And I enjoy that, but that's okay until you need somebody. My last time at hospice, it was a 12-room hospice. Of the 12 rooms, all were occupied. Only one guy had a visitor. Now, it could have been the time of day, so we go, wow. But it could have been the time of day. People have lives. But I thought, if I'm in hospice, and I'm laying there alone, I mean, what's it going to be like at the end?
God's Answer for Loneliness
Jesus says this in John 15: "My command is this: love each other as I've loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that they lay down their life for their friends. You're my friend." God's answer for this friendship and loneliness here is the body of Christ in the church. That's God's answer. That's the one another's. That's to love one another, care for one another, to be in an environment where I'm encouraging one another. That's what the church is all about.
You need to be engaged in a local church. This church, I don't particularly care as long as they teach Bible and that faith is at the core of it. I'll get my needs met. That's what the Elks are for. That's what Nordstrom's does. It's somebody that's going to be there when you've got nothing to give back.
Those of you that say, "Well, I don't really have a church, I go to four or five churches." Here's what you need to do. Ask this question: If your kid is in the hospital and dying, which church are you going to call? Because that's your home church. And get rid of the other four and plug in there. But you need to be in a body. You need to be in those one another's. You need to be sharing life together. And it's messy and it's sloppy, but that's all right.
Uncertainty About the World
Here's the third thing: the uncertainty about the world. Will we finally manage to destroy ourselves? What about the environment? Here you go. This will give you a sense of when we wrote it. Will the Soviets ever conquer the free world? There's that whole world around us.
I cannot write very well. I have a list of things I wish I could do. And one of them is write. Tim Kimmel wrote me a letter, I don't know, long ago. And it was really a note. I'll call it a letter because it was on a letterhead. But it was really a note. And He was just expressing some thoughts on a few things. If you gave me a year, I could not have written a note or a letter as beautiful. Tim can just flat write. I wish I could do that. I just don't. I don't know why. I either don't have any attention or the capacity or the gift.
But I have a friend who's an attorney. And I got this. It's dated December 2nd. I just got it in the mail Monday. "Dear Tom, it seems that Christmas started at the end
Living to Win - Winning Over Uncertainty
Just like last year, there's a multitude of tensions and uncertainty swirling around us. But there is nothing quite like this time of year. While the evening news may bring nothing but fog, Christmas brings not only focus and clarity to our priorities, but also peace and optimism as well. There's the line on the uncertainty of the world, but the clarity of Christmas, the clarity of the truth.
Isaiah 51:6 says, "My salvation will last forever." Here's some clarity in the midst of uncertainty in the world around us. Second Peter 3:10 declares, "For the day of the Lord will come like a thief in which heaven will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burnt up." Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, here's the question, here's the payoff pitch: What sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?
Here's all this uncertainty around us. How do you respond? What kind of person are you in the midst of it?
What Type of Person Are You?
Sandy was taking me to a doctor's appointment yesterday and we're driving. There's a big bus, a tour bus, and it's a Christian tour bus. The way I know is it says on it, "Christian tour bus. To God be the glory" with a Bible verse and some other stuff.
Now obviously I'm all about Christian and Bible verses, but it started a conversation for us. Would you want to be on that bus? Right on the front, and it's perfect Christian, right on the front: No food, no drink. Here it is, Christian bus, none of this. Nothing that would have fun. We're not stopping at a Starbucks. If we do, you better drink that thing fast because you're not bringing it back on the bus.
Sandy said, and she's dead right, "Wouldn't I be better off being a Christian on a pagan bus?" The question that Peter's asking is, in all of this uncertainty, what type of person are you? Christian is not an adjective. It's not Christian music, Christian comic. Christian is the type of person that we are. It's how do we live in the midst of this?
Uncertainty About Kids
Here's the third thing: uncertainty about kids. I've discovered that there are two things I can talk about that generate a lot of guilt: divorce and kids. What about my kids? How are they going to live in this society? Am I going to see my kids make the same mistakes I made?
I remember when my kids were growing up, I remember thinking they're going to ask me all these questions. "Did you ever, did you ever, did you ever?" I realized that my answer to all of them is yes, unless the question is, "Did you study?" My kids never accepted that I had a 3.75 on my college graduation. Now they were saying GPA, I was thinking blood alcohol content. So that was the difference between the two.
I just go, "I know they're going to ask, 'Dad, did you ever? Dad, did you ever?'" So I just kind of fessed up as soon as they could handle it, that yeah, I did. I did all that.
Grace-Based Parenting
Here's the deal. Here's what I've seen. I've watched parents, especially if you came to Christ as an adult, you did a lot of bad junk. Your flinch is to, and I get it, want to protect your kids from that stuff. So you parent by fear.
If you want to read some great parenting material, get Kimmel's stuff on grace-based parenting. Kimmel's stuff on grace-based parenting and then grace-based living is fabulous.
What about my kids? And now for us, it's our grandkids. I think I was an okay dad, but I don't think I'm a very good grandfather. I've been trying to figure out why that is, and I think I put my finger on twofold.
The Challenge of Grandparenting
Number one, it's a control issue. You don't have control. You have different sets of values or rules. At their house, food and drink can go anywhere. At our house, it can't. So the minute they come in with this, I'll go, "You know, we don't bring it in here." Then I feel bad about it. I'm going, "I don't feel bad about it. Get your stuff out in the kitchen."
The other one is Psalm 103: "From everlasting to everlasting, the Lord's love is with those who fear Him and His righteousness with their children's children, with those who keep His covenants and remember to obey His precepts." It's like Deuteronomy 6. That's a passage you'll hear often at baby dedications. Whether you stand up, walk, sit down, whatever it is, that's how you teach.
That's when I realized that's how we raised our kids. We raised our kids in a condition of lifestyle evangelism.
Lifestyle Evangelism in Action
If Susan took the girls to the grocery store, that became their devotional time. They didn't call it that. Susan would hold the door and people would walk in and they'd say thank you, and she would model courtesy. She'd take them down the rows and go, "Look girls, we need this. If we buy this size, it's 17 cents an ounce. If we buy this size, it's 9 cents an ounce." It's not an issue on economics, it's an issue on stewardship.
Here's what I've realized in the grandparenting thing for me: I'm not good at creating these big moments. I've never been a big event parent. Brayden texted me the other day, "How are you feeling?" I don't want to ruin his day, so I'll say, "You know, I'm fine. What are you going to do today?" So I throw the bait out. I said, "Well, I'm going to go for a walk after the game." Then this came back: "Can I go with you?"
I said, "Buddy, I'd love to have you go." So we're walking along and I said, "How are you doing?" "Good, good." I said, "Well, good doesn't give me much information, you know? Good in where? What's..."
Good? Well, school's good. Oh, how's math? Because they moved him up a math level. I said, how is it? Is it hard? And he said, no. I said, is it easy? And he said, no, it is when you get it. All of it is when you get it.
And so we're talking and I said, are you ready for the program? Because their big school program was this Tuesday. Are you ready for your program? Yeah. And I said, well, what is it? Well, all holidays. We're St. Patrick's Day. And I have this part, I have this hat and I can't keep it up. And he started describing his hat falling down and the role he had to play and how awkward it is when things don't fit right. And it was this great moment.
And I got home and he said, hey, can I text mom and see if it's okay if I stay and watch the Bronco game with you? And I said, yeah. He's only going to last until half, I know that. And I said, sure, that would be great. I'd love to watch it with you. So I watch it with him and he said, you know, next year, can you and I do a fantasy football team together? And I said, yeah, we'll beat the snot out of your brother. I can't wait to drum that little kid.
Living Truth in Front of Our Children
And that's what it is. You take those truths, here's my thing, and you live it out in front of them. The grandparenting thing is a great opportunity, but it's work. And it's conscientious. And I don't think you turn everything into a Bible lesson. I don't think you say, come on over and we're going to look at 2 Peter 3. I think you live it in front of them.
Let's end on a high note. Health, old age, and death. This will be great. So if I die over Christmas, this will be your last memory of me, but it's probably right.
Uncertainty About Health
Uncertainty about health. Am I going to be disabled? Am I going to have habits? So right now, you've got the little wine. It's that time of year, you've got a little wine, you know, and you get out and you have a little.
Santa and I went and saw the Christmas Carol last night, which we do every year, which I absolutely love. I love it. I love to hail it, sit in a thing. And there's a girl whose parents I married her parents, and she's in it every year, and now she's got this role. So we're done. So I said, when we're done, I said, hey, we're downtown, but we have her car. It's a Prius. And I said, I don't know how to turn it on. I don't know what. It's got something, and you can't hear it. I'm sure it's a great car.
But I said, do you want to get a glass of wine or something, or do you want to eat or whatever? But we're in downtown Gilbert with a lot of lights and one glass of wine, and they stop you. And she said, no, that wouldn't be smart. And so Postino's is jammed. Liberty Market's jammed. Everybody's jammed, and it's loud. And so it's that time of year where it's all right, grab a wine and maybe two. Is there any chance that stuff gets out of control?
Am I going to face a really bad disease? I'm obviously super sensitive to this health stuff. But I saw my doctor yesterday, and she just looked at me, and she said, you don't look very good. And those aren't the words I'm looking for from my health care provider. And I just said, I'm miserable. I'm so miserable. I said, the other night at 2 in the morning, I'm sitting on the living room. I'm ready to cry. I hurt everywhere. So she said, well, here's this new thing, and let's try this new treatment. And I knew that was there, right? You know that's out there, but am I ever going to be there?
God's Grace Is Sufficient
In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul said, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh. Most people think it was a physical ailment. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away. So He's got this thing, whatever it is, we don't know. He says three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away, but He didn't. Now listen, my grace is sufficient for you, God says, for my power is perfected in your weakness. That is why I delight in my weakness, for when I'm weak, then I'm strong.
Why would God allow that physical pain or that hardship or that emotional pain to bring you to the point where you see it's beyond you? I don't care who you are. If you've got this five-year business plan and you've exceeded all your goals and you've done all these things, you can give God the glory, but in your mind you're going, that was a heck of a business plan. Nobody executes like I do. But when that stuff's good, when they come back, you didn't do much to cause it that we know of, and there's not much we can do about it. Here's what He says, my grace is sufficient.
Many of you know the name Johnny Erickson Tata. Johnny was a young girl in a diving accident, paraplegic, beautiful gal, puts a paintbrush in her mouth and paints these incredible pictures. Inspirational. Johnny said this, I read the book of Job and discovered God will never have to give me an answer for what He did in my life, but I will have to answer for everything I've done.
I don't know about the health. I know that God's grace is sufficient. I watch Larry. I think about Larry a thousand times a day. I don't know how he did all the stuff he did. His hands are all rolled over. His ankles are all swollen. Now he's got the cancer. And when I came in to see him, he's still groggy and sedated. And I said, Doc, how is it? And they had taken out like half his neck. Staples in there. And at that moment, all you get is what's true. And he looked up at me and he said, Tommy, God's grace is sufficient. And that really could apply to everything, not just health.
Facing Old Age
Old age. Here's the question we have. Will Social Security fail? No. I don't know if it will be worth anything, but it will be there. Will I have enough? Will I have to live on my own? Will I be in a home? Will I be healthy enough to want to live? Will I have regrets?
I'm going to recommend a book, but I can't remember the title. So this could be really hard. But it's a new book by J.I. Packer. So I'm sure you can go on Amazon. I mean, I can't do everything for you. You can figure
The Reality of Aging and Physical Decline
J.I. Packer has a new book on aging. What I like about the book is it's about this size, and I'm halfway through it. It's just dealing with growing old as a follower of Christ. How do I deal with all that?
Here's what God says recorded by Isaiah in chapter 46, verse 4: "I am He who will sustain you. I will sustain you and rescue you." There's this reality of health and old age and the inevitability of this, and it changes.
There's few things that make me think like seeing a once-powerful man or woman and see them at the end of life. To see somebody who was an extraordinary athlete—Ted Williams coming out to go around, he can hardly wave around Fenway in a golf cart. Willie McCovey. Muhammad Ali. To see a business person who was so sharp, razor sharp, head of the game, extraordinary person, and then see them at the end of life. It's like that great equalizer, and that's your future.
The Uncertainty About Death
Then here's the last one: the uncertainty about death. How long am I going to live? Am I going to suffer?
Here's evidence of an arrogant young man. I remember Larry was sick and I watched him die. I remember praying, "God, I want to suffer before I die. I want to suffer and I want to do it publicly and I want it to be the strongest lesson I've ever taught." I at the same time prayed for a house in Coronado. He chose to answer the former, not the latter. I think about it all the time again—what a stupid prayer.
Learning Ministry Through Experience
God, I want to be Your guy. I ended up doing this, being a pastor with no training. Still haven't had any training, haven't been to school, I got nothing. Just by instinct and Bible, which are two pretty good things, by the way.
We had a lady in our church die and I had no clue what to do for a funeral. So I called Daryl and I said, "Daryl, we had a lady in the church die." He said, "That's sad." I said, "I got to do the funeral." He said, "Okay." I said, "I don't know what to do." This is exactly real time. So I said, "Daryl, I don't know what to do." He said, "You'll figure it out" and hung up. So I had no training plus I had Daryl's encouragement. It came together—you just knew what to do.
A Difficult Funeral
Here's the one I wasn't ready for. The lady that called and said, "Can you do my dad's funeral?" I said, "Sure, I like doing funerals." I said, "Did I know your dad? I apologize." "No, no, you didn't know him." "Oh, was he a—did he live here in town?" "Yeah." "Was he a good guy?" "No, he was awful." "Was he a good husband?" "No." "Good dad?" "No." "Good friend?" "No." "Was he a Christian?" "No." "Will you do this?" I said, "Sure," not so much for him, but for her.
So I didn't know what to do. I get there and I'm not really sure. It's an open casket and I don't like open caskets—now they give me the heebie-jeebies. I'm not good at it. So I'm there and here's what I came up with. We'll call him Bill.
I said, "All right, here's Bill. Now you all need to know, I don't know Bill. This is the first time I've seen him. All I really know is that he had a nice suit. That's all I know in this. You all, if you want to talk about Bill, you're going to have to talk about Bill." Those are those times where, "Well, he loved his supper club and he could—he was fun to go with camping," and he was like, "Okay, there we go."
So now they're all done. I said, "Let me tell you what I think this moment is about. If you could Photoshop Bill out and your picture in, we got the moment I'd like, because this is where you're headed to."
Death Is Certain, the Afterlife Is Uncertain
There's an uncertainty about what happens there, but death's not uncertain. Even when that 35-year-old guy falls over dead, we go, "Oh, I'm so surprised that he died." You're not surprised he died. You're surprised by the timing of it. I'd be surprised if he was 250, not 35 dying, right? So there's no uncertainty about death itself. We know it's certain. Two things certain—death and taxes, but half of you aren't paying those. So I'm going to come back and go, death.
Death is certain. The uncertainty is what happens then. Here's what Jesus says: "God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
The True Meaning of Christmas
Here's what Christmas is all about. Christmas is about Jesus coming and being born so He can die in your place, that you can know today that you have heaven.
I was not raised in that environment. I was raised in an environment that said, "Be good, do," but I never got the answer to how good or do what. Whatever it was, it was more—do more of this, be this. It's called religion. But Christianity comes along and says, "Listen, death is certain, the act of dying. The uncertainty is after it. Whoever has the Son has life, has eternal life. To be absent from the body is to be in the presence of the Lord."
This is time for confession. There's hardly a day goes by that I don't say, "I'd love to be out of here." Don't you have that? I mean, don't you have that every night at about 6:20 when you're watching the news? Or tax day, or your hands hurt, or you're in traffic. "I want to get out of here." That's so selfish. I want to get out of here to avoid my discomfort. What He's saying is, "I get out of here and I'm in the presence of Jesus, the one I say I love."
A Call to Faith
Now, here you go. We're at the end of yet another year, our twenty-third or fourth year of doing this. You could have heard this 1,000 times, but maybe you've never come to Christ in repentance and faith. This is the time to do it. It's not walk an aisle, it's none of that. It's in your heart to acknowledge that you've sinned and your sin has separated you from God, but Christ died in your place. It's simple as accepting, believing.
The world almost inevitably does a counterfeiter knockoff of us. So here's what you hear: "This Christmas is all about giving." Christmas is not about giving. Christmas is about receiving—receiving that Christ came and lived and died, and you receive Him, you acknowledge Him as your Lord and
Your fundamental problem is sin, and the only solution is Jesus. So as we put a bow on that, and not just today, but the whole series, it's about even in the midst of uncertainty, the rock that I can know. I take the uncertainty out of life. It's not to take the circumstances out, because they're going to go like this: good reports, bad report, good report. But in the midst of that is the presence of God in all of it.
Whether I live to be 65 or 75 or 105 or 155, I'm going to deal with all of those things. They're called life. They are a result of sin. The wage of sin is death—not just spiritual death and physical death. The evidence that you're a sinner is that you're dying, and the solution to that is Jesus.
The Joy Found in Christ
While I know that sounds like a downer, to me, it's the only joy that we have. That is the joy, not just of Christmas, but of the joy of life. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas time. I hope you have a great time.
If you have family, that you have family around you, that you have friends, that you enjoy it, that you have traditions, that you get into it, that you rest if you need it. And that you grasp the certainty that God loves you and sent Christ to die for you so that you could have life and have it abundantly. Isn't that great? It's really good.
Let's pray. Father, thank You for that awesome truth. And we got so much that distracts us. And beyond all of that, we add to it now the holiday season. God, rather than have us fight it and push against us, let us enjoy the time, enjoy the opportunity. And more than anything, make certain that we've received the gift of eternal life that we find in Your Son, Jesus. We pray to You in His name, amen.